The Bat Debate

Not to mention what players could do to other players with those shards.

I saw this article about broken bats. I haven't heard this issue for awhile, so I thought I'd mention it. It's a difficult issue. On one hand, the players seem to think the bats make a difference, but on the other, the bats are potentially dangerous. So, should they use maple bats?

No
Maple bats are incredibly dangerous. They've hurt coaches, umpires, players, and fans. They break in a way that a large shard comes spiraling towards an unsuspecting person, and if the broken end hits someone, it can slice or even plunge into someone. If it hit the right spot, it is potentially fatal. With ash bats, there is a plausible alternative, and when those bats shatter, they shatter into a thousand pieces, all harmless. No one gets hurt. Because there is an alternative, they should switch back to ash bats. A maple bat can't make that much of a difference, can it?

Yes
Maple bats are potentially dangerous, but so are balls. Are we going to have to go to plush balls so that no one gets hurt? What about when guys throw the bats into the stands on accident? Why don't we just put screens all the way down to third base? That way, no one gets hurt. As for the players, they are supposed to be paying attention and should be able to get out of the way. Even if they can't, the chances of a bat hitting them is minuscule. The chances of a bat doing serious damage is even smaller than that. The game can be potentially dangerous, but will football outlaw tackling because it could paralyze someone? I doubt it. Is this only an issue because baseball has always been a relatively conservative game and doesn't like the new bats?

It's a difficult situation. You know it would be uncommon to see an injury, but you also have the mindset that one injury is too many. If they had that mindset, maple bats would be long gone. Maybe that's the most ominous sign. As of right now, it doesn't seem as though maple bats are on the front-burner. They'd rather worry more about instant replay. Anyway, because ash bats are probably just as good as maple bats, I would tend to think maple bats should be outlawed. If you have a decent alternative, especially one of almost equal value, you should probably use that instead. I just hope everyone realizes this issue isn't quite so "cut" and dry (too soon?).